The present invention relates to improvement for air assists used for insuring uniform conveying of particulate or powdered material in a dense phase bulk material handling system by providing an air bleed through the air assist inlet line to insure that the air assist will operate satisfactorily.
Dense phase transporter systems with regulated pressure air assists are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,240,355 and 5,584,612, both owned by the assignee of this application. A dense phase conveying system uses a conveying conduit or line that carries material under fluid pressure from a transport vessel to a receiver bin. At selected intervals along the conduit, nozzles are provided for introducing a flow of air under regulated pressure in transport zones to assist moving the particulate or powdered material along the conduit in each of the zones. This minimizes the size of slug in the line.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,612, the air assists are energized or activated in response to a build up of back pressure sensed downstream from the air assist that is being operated. As back pressure increases a pilot operated valve is opened to introduce the air assist flow to the conduit.